Hosted PBX systems are becoming popular solutions for many small to medium-sized businesses who want to stay competitive with advanced technology and the opportunities it provides. Built, delivered and managed by a third-party service provider, hosted PBX is an IP-based telephony solution provisioned and accessed entirely through the Internet.
Basically, a hosted PBX takes your business communications system out of the office and into the cloud. So long as they can connect to the cloud, your employees – no matter where they are – can stay engaged and productive without physical limitations.
Unlike a traditional private branch exchange (PBX) phone system, which requires installation, ongoing maintenance, training, and costly hardware, a hosted PBX takes many of these issues off your shoulders and provides you with an easy to manage, user-friendly service with a wide range of features offering greater flexibility.
Let’s review some of the most valuable benefits for SMBs.
User-controlled settings
Hosted PBX systems provide online web portals where users configure their settings without relying on IT staff support or enduring complicated technical setup. Training time and costs are minimal with more user-friendly portals accessible from desktop computers and laptops as well as tablets and smartphones.
Scalability for multiple locations
If you are still supporting multiple locations with a legacy phone system, that means having to manage each location’s computer box individually, deal with limits on numbers of lines, and handle hardware maintenance for each location. It also means remote employees cannot use the same features available in-office.
Because the management of hosted PBX happens in the cloud, your business is free from the demands of a traditional phone system. You are also free to add or remove lines as needed for any location. As your business needs change and grow, your host PBX system grows with you, but at a lower overall cost.
Seamless collaboration
So long as there is a reliable connection to the cloud, remote or traveling employees can securely access services and features to maintain productivity without ever having to step into the office. Whether you need voice, video or web interaction, the same IP service quality and features keep you in touch and in step with your team and your customers.
Flexible features
Once upon a time, most businesses found it sufficient to have a phone situated in one location with a few standard features such as hold, transfer, conference, and speaker.
Today, remaining competitive often demands the capability to communicate from a variety of locations and channels. A hosted PBX system allows employees to seamlessly make, receive and transfer calls across locations or devices, depending on the situation. Video conferencing can include any number of individuals with ease. Voicemail can be converted to email (or vice versa), allowing all communication information to flow to the channels that make the most sense for your team.
Automatic updates
It can be difficult to keep up with the frequent changes in business technology, not to mention knowing which most benefit your business. Rather than lose that edge, a hosted PBX will keep your communication system current and notify you of improvements to your VoIP phones and related devices.
Upgrades and updates are simple and often automatic. This means not having to engage busy or expensive IT and phone resources to maintain the best service available.
Business continuity
Accidents happen, as do natural disasters, equipment failures, and cyberattacks. Any of these scenarios could result in downtime when on-site hardware is damaged or compromised. Because a hosted PBX operates from secure and redundant data centers, you are far less likely to experience an interruption in business operation or communication due to loss of voice service.
When a physical phone, computer, or other portal device goes down, calls can be quickly rerouted to another device to ensure continuous service.
What to look for…
Look closely at your current capabilities and determine whether those meet your needs either currently or for your future plans.
Some options you will want to consider include:
- Ability to convert voicemail to email
- Videoconferencing
- Ability to make and receive calls on any device in any location
- Automatic upgrades
- Ease of configuration
- Low maintenance
Your first priority should be running and growing your business, not untangling your phone system. With a hosted PBX, you can enjoy high-quality, reliable service with a wide range of useful features while keeping your attention where it belongs.